Newslinks for Wednesday 9th April 2025

Higher US tariffs introduced…

“Donald Trump has pushed the world into a full-blown trade war, defying market turmoil as sweeping tariffs against dozens of US trading partners came into effect. With no last-minute reprieve from the White House, the president’s so-called reciprocal tariffs came into force at midnight in Washington on Wednesday. They include a 104 per cent levy on China that will slash trade between the world’s two largest economies. The tariffs mark a profound reversal to decades of liberalisation in the world economy and will — if sustained — lead to a complete reshaping of global trade patterns.” – Financial Times

• UK growth forecasts hit – Financial Times
• Government rejects ‘buy British’ campaign to combat tariffs – BBC
• The UK can still outmanoeuvre Trump’s tariffs and win – Mark Wallace, The i
• Trump’s China ploy is a foolish gamble – Leader, Daily Telegraph
• There will be a U-turn. But the longer Trump takes to make it, the greater the scars of his error – Matthew Lesh, Daily Telegraph

>Today: Columnist Daniel Hannan: Six tests that will reveal whether Starmer is serious about equipping Britain for Trump’s new world

…as Musk attacks “moron” trade tsar

“Elon Musk has branded Donald Trump’s trade tsar “dumber than a sack of bricks” and exposed a growing White House split over tariffs. The Tesla founder said Peter Navarro, the US President’s senior counsellor for trade, was “truly a moron” after claiming the world’s richest man was merely a “car assembler” rather than a manufacturer. In a tirade on his social media site X, Mr Musk said Mr Navarro’s claims that he wanted to use “cheap foreign parts” were “demonstrably false”, as he insisted that Tesla “has the most American-made cars”. The feud highlights mounting tensions within Mr Trump’s inner circle, which have come to the fore after the president’s global wave of tariffs led to stock markets crashing around the world.” – Daily Telegraph

• Maga is shattering before America’s eyes – Jake Wallis Simons, Daily Telegraph

Labour ditches rape gang inquiries

“Labour has dropped its plans for five local grooming gang inquiries. In January, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, told MPs that the Government would provide £5 million to support up to five initial local inquiries modelled on the judge-led one into grooming gangs in Telford. However, on Tuesday Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, announced that “following feedback” the Government would adopt a “flexible approach” where the money would be available for local councils to use as they wished to support grooming gang work.. …Katie Lam, the shadow Home Office minister, said: “Local inquiries are not good enough – they can’t compel witnesses, they can’t look at themes across the country, and they can’t address national issues like deportation. Now the Government is watering them down even further. We won’t let them get away with it.” – Daily Telegraph

Starmer criticises OBR forecasting methods

“Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has criticised how the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog has analysed the impact of his benefit changes. Appearing at a parliamentary committee, he said the OBR, which monitors public spending plans, had assumed that “not a single person” would change their behaviour as a result of the government’s proposals. “I personally struggle with that way of looking at it, because I do think these measures will make a material difference,” Sir Keir said.” – BBC

• Starmer pledges 16-year-olds will ‘definitely’ get the vote – The Times

>Today: Mark Littlewood on Comment: Ignoring the OBR is a valid option, but getting rid of it might be better one

>Yesterday: Andrew Gimson’s Commons sketch: Starmer the supreme expert allows himself to smile

The Government considers nationalising British Steel

“The government is considering nationalising British Steel as fears grow among ministers that the company’s blast furnaces in Scunthorpe could run out of raw materials within days. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has sought to reassure workers at the Lincolnshire plant that the government would consider nationalisation if necessary. Reeves spoke to trade unions over the weekend to explain the government’s outlook on the steelworks’ future. It is understood she told them she was acutely aware of the steel industry’s strategic importance to the UK.” – BBC

• Farage warns there are just three days to save British steelmaking from collapse – The Sun

NHS staff “struggle to use electronic records effectively”

“The national health service in England has spent billions rolling out electronic patient records and yet large numbers of frontline staff are unable to use them effectively, according to think-tank research.  A small number of NHS organisations are struggling to use EPRs at all and “many more aren’t yet using these systems to their full potential”, the Health Foundation said in a report on Wednesday.  Health secretary Wes Streeting has made transitioning the NHS from “analogue to digital” one of the three “big shifts” the service must undergo in how it delivers care.” – Financial Times

• Streeting signals support for national prostate cancer screening programme as Health Secretary hails Mail’s ‘really important’ campaign to save lives – Daily Mail
• NHS redundancy payouts in England could cost £1bn, says Streeting – Financial Times
• New cancer drugs could face NHS shortages and price hikes due to tariffs – The i

London falls out of top five wealthiest cities as millionaires leave

“London is no longer one of the top five wealthiest cities in the world after losing a higher proportion of millionaires than anywhere other than Moscow. An annual report on global wealth says the UK’s capital has lost 11,300 dollar millionaires over the past year, including 18 centimillionaires and two billionaires. A centimillionaire is someone who has at least $100 million, while a billionaire has more than $1,000 million. The study, conducted for the advisory firm Henley & Partners by New World Wealth, defines wealth as “liquid investable” assets, which means cash, bonds and shares but excludes property wealth.” – The Times

New theme park to be built near Bedford

“A new Universal theme park will be built in the UK, the government has confirmed. It will be constructed on the site of the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks near Bedford and is expected to generate 28,000 jobs before it opens in 2031. Universal estimated the 476-acre complex could attract 8.5 million visitors in its first year and generate £50bn for the UK economy by 2055. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the muti-billion-pound investment by the company would “see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe, firmly putting the county on the global stage”. Universal Destinations and Experience said 80% of those employed in the new jobs will be from Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas.” – BBC

• Labour green-lighting new Universal theme park shows they genuinely crave growth – Leader, The Sun
• If you think this government is pro-business, let me sell you Tower Bridge – Christian May, City AM

Fury as Lib Dem Council bans VE day parade

“A “woke” council was branded “shameful” after rejecting calls for a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day because it is “elitist”. Liberal Democrats denied residents the opportunity for a formal ceremony and instead suggested they host their own street parties. Commemorations across the country on May 8 will mark the end of World War 2 in Europe, including a church service attended by the Royal Family. But Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire will not honour veterans, families, and local residents with a parade to mark the occasion.” – Daily Express

Public health warning over Birmingham bin strike

“Wes Streeting warned that a bin strike that has left rubbish piling high on Birmingham streets is a ‘public health’ problem as he lashed out at the union behind the dispute. The Health Secretary accused Unite of creating a situation where ‘bin bags are piling up (and) we see rats and other vermin crawling around’ in England’s second city. It has been preventing refuse collection lorries from leaving the depot for weeks in a dispute over pay and jobs that has left Birmingham streets filthy with tons of rubbish.” – Daily Mail

• Ministers must step in to end Birmingham bin strike – Leader, The Times

Green Party launches local election campaign

“The Green Party of England and Wales is aiming for a “record” number of councillors as it looks to increase its power base for an eighth election in a row, party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has said. The party is looking to build on its successes, after passing 800 councillors for the first time last year. The local elections in England on 1 May will be a major test for the Greens who quadrupled their number of MPs to four at last year’s general election – but have failed to match the poll increases seen by Reform UK.” – BBC

• Council tax in Wales ‘costs more than my utilities’ after rise – BBC

>Today: Kemi Badenoch and Julian Ellacott on Comment: How we are building a new army of Conservative candidates

Other political news

• Assisted dying Bill pushed back to after local elections – Daily Telegraph
• UK draws up plans for two new quangos despite anti-regulation drive – Financial Times
• Ukraine demands answers over ‘Chinese fighters with Russian army’ – The Times
• AI sensors to monitor elderly for falls and missed meals in new social care plan – The i
• Planning bill ‘throws environmental protection to the wind’, say UK nature chiefs – The Guardian
• Labour MPs call for digital IDs to tackle migration – BBC
• Ostrich ambushes Boris Johnson on safari holiday – The Times
• First Ofcom probe launched into suicide site – BBC
• ‘Chilling’ tool aims to predict who will kill by using personal data – The Times
• Scotland’s ageing and unhealthy population could shatter SNP budget – Daily Telegraph
• Anti-Islamophobia group Tell Mama should face inquiry, says Muslim peer – The Guardian
• Workers’ bill ‘will stop UK firms doing US-style diversity rollback’ – The Times
• Hundred-year wait for family-size social housing in parts of England, study finds – The Guardian
• Sarah Brown: Our baby loss led to search for answers – BBC

Neil: Instead of tinkering boldness is needed

“The whole farrago of Net Zero nonsense should be consigned to the dustbin, the multi-billion pound savings transferred to a proper rearmament programme of scale and substance – with money to spare to bolster British businesses that need help to weather Trump’s tariff tsunami. Many will and the Government should be ready to provide temporary aid in the shape of low-interest loans. This week Starmer was still droning on about how Net Zero was Britain’s path to the ‘jobs of the future’, despite overwhelming evidence that the job creation is largely in China, which has a firm grip of the global solar panel industry, the EV market and wind turbines.” – Andrew Neil, Daily Mail

• Starmer’s war on quangos is doomed to fail unless he is bolder – Philip Johnston, Daily Telegraph
• Trump has handed Starmer a golden opportunity to escape the looming disaster of net zero – Gordon Hughes, Daily Telegraph

>Yesterday: Alex Burghart on Comment: Why you should get involved with the Conservative policy renewal programme

Kemp: We must defeat Hamas ideologically as well as militarily

“How often have we heard the lazy aphorism that you can’t defeat an ideology? Tell that to the Nazi Party and Imperial Japan. As they were, Hamas and its fellow jihadists in Gaza are in the process of being militarily defeated, and when that is complete their ideology will no longer have the direct capability to inflict harm on their enemies. But the ideology itself will remain and what is left of its leadership will do their utmost to rearm and rebuild what they have lost. The same is true in the West Bank. So rather than wringing our hands and repeating decades-old and demonstrably unachievable peace formulas, the civilised world should now unite in a concerted effort to deradicalise the Palestinians. Arab states have a particular interest in doing so, as the festering hatred is destabilising in their own countries.” – Richard Kemp, Daily Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: Sorry but MPs are labouring under an entitled assumption they have access all areas, and they don’t

News in brief

• Britain doesn’t need yet another equalities quango – Rakib Ehsan, The Spectator
• What will it be, Prime Minister, quangos or growth? – Eliot Wilson, CapX
• ‘Reverts’? The BBC is spouting Islamist talking points – Fraser Myers, Spiked Online
• Why Singapore thrives while the UK is in constant decline – Tilak Doshi and Peter Coclanis, Daily Sceptic
• The Leadbeater Bill deserves to fail – Lord Jackson, The Critic